


A statue on the cliff side

by KandySongbird



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Moths, Oneshot, Short, a short story just testing the waters, the radiance is here too but only mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2021-01-24 08:47:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21335479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KandySongbird/pseuds/KandySongbird
Summary: Familiar is the light of dreams that was long forgotten, and yet they whisper in the ears of those moths who can sense them. Why do they linger? Why do they gather? Why do they resound within the minds of the many?
Kudos: 9





	A statue on the cliff side

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya, I'm just posting this here as a small test. I wrote this a while ago just for a little fun but I really liked how it came out. I plan on uploading a much longer story sometime soon so if you like this please stick around to read that.

“Focus Hoffin, the dreams will not come to you so easily.” 

The smaller moth huffed in retaliation, running a claw over one of the dream beads that made up her necklace. She closed her eyes once more, reaching for the essence she could feel within the bright orange beads. Her wings quivered. 

Nothing. 

“Oh teacher, I can't get the shield to appear! Are you sure these beads aren't some old thrown out jewelry?” The poodle moth groaned, Fluttering her wings in frustration, antenna twitching. 

“These beads are our ancestry Hoffin. They carry within them a dream of protection.” Eljin responded, cocking his fluffy head slightly as he spoke. 

“How does one even get dreams into beads?” The apprentice questioned, leaving her frustrations aside, walking up to the larger moth.

“Even I couldn't answer that question I'm afraid.” The leopard moth sighed, trouble glazing over his wide green eyes. “The Moth Tribe once had a strong link to dreams, I can't say I know what happened to sever that connection but most of us can no longer reach into the dreams.” 

Hoffin hummed in agreement. “It’s looked down upon by the King if I'm right, the meddling in dreams that is.”

“Right you are.” He replied, ruffling the fur on the smaller moths head. “But we cannot help our nature, moths like you and I are drawn to the dreams of others. What a wonderful light they emit.” 

The poodle moth didn't respond. Her thoughts drew out across the landscape, from the very peak of the kingdom. An old forgotten place, only visited by the moths who took interest in dreams. She could make out the vague shapes of the little houses that made up Dirtmouth through the fog, and beyond, the towering mountains that made up Howling Cliffs. 

Her teacher had said dream essence tended to gather in two places in the kingdom. One, the Resting Grounds, though that didn't surprise her. She had often seen the lingering dreams floating above their resting places, some oblivious to their slumber, others wallowing deep in the pain of a life cut short. When she was young she would make a scene. Hoffin had learnt the hard way that not all moths could see the lingering dreams.

The second, the crown of the kingdom. This place struck Hoffin as mysterious. Odd tablets were scattered everywhere, they would glow with magnificent words, but they fell blank on her mind. She couldn't read them at all. Neglected arches of stone led from the entrance of the crown to the very edge of the cliff, worn away by wind and rain. Though the oddest part about this crown upon the kingdom was an old statue that stood there, almost falling off the cliff side. The figure was one she had never seen before, it resembled the moths so closely but was adorned with a crown and had wings unlike any she had seen. She had questioned her teacher about the meaning behind the neglected statue, though he too could draw no meaning from it. 

“Perhaps a piece of art crafted away from prying eyes.” He had answered. 

“Why would someone go to the trouble of building such a large statue all the way up here?” She had responded. 

Her teacher had looked at her with eyes so serious. “Not all things should be seen Hoffin. Some things are better left hidden.”

Hoffin had blinked, she recalls it well, she would always blink when bewildered. “ But we are seeing it, if we know it's here, is it truly hidden?”

He had laughed at this and ruffled her head in the way he always does. “Then I suppose we should forget we ever saw it.” 

Hoffin thought about it that night, that odd statue and unreadable tablets. She wished to know more, if the dreams gathered in such a place, was the placement of those objects coincidental? 

Eljin stretched his wings, bringing Hoffin back to the present. “Are you done thinking?” His voice was slick and kind. 

“Yes, let me try summon the shield again.” 

-

Hoffin had managed to get the dream shield to materialise, but could not hold it in reality by the time they left the crown. She looked back at the statue as they left. She understood why her teacher had told her to forget about it, she knew some things were better left forgotten. But sometimes the image of the statue would not leave her mind. 

Sometimes she would dream of the statue, all worn and crumbling, in it’s very, very sorry state.

Sometimes, and this was a sometimes amongst sometimes, she would dream of a being oh so bright, one that perfectly resembled the statue, all glowing and warm. With wings like golden tendrils and fur so light and radiant. Those dreams were oddly enchanting and she would always wake up dazed. 

Some things were better left forgotten, but she could not forget that one crumbling statue that stood stubbornly on the crown of the kingdom.


End file.
